January 19, 2025 – European Table Tennis Union

At the Palasport in Avenza, in front of a passionate home crowd, Apuania Carrara celebrated their fourth consecutive victory in the Italian Super Cup by beating their historic rivals, Top Spin Messina Watches Together, 5-3. The victory was particularly special as Top Spin Messina had won the Super Cup in 2019 and 2020. The trophy was presented by FITeT President Renato DI NAPOLI. The match was played across two tables and featured exciting action from start to finish. In the first round, Apuania Carrara took a commanding lead, with Croatian Tomislav PUCAR beating Niagol STOYANOV and Portuguese Joo MONTEIRO, a former Top Spin player, defeating Tommaso GIOVANNETTI. Top Spin Messina fought back in the second round. Moldavian Vladislav URSU had the upper hand over Mihai BOBOCICA, but MONTEIRO maintained Apuania's momentum by beating STOYANOV. The third round brought excitement for Top Spin Messina as they leveled the match at 3-3. URSU achieved a victory against PUCAR and GIOVANNETTI defeated Matteo MUTTI. In the decisive fourth round, MONTEIRO completed a hat-trick by beating URSU, and MUTTI sealed victory for Apuania by beating STOYANOV in a thrilling five-match match. It was a heartbreaking match, said Guglielmo BELLOTTI, president of Apuania Carrara. Top Spin Messina confirmed that they are a very strong team. We started well, but they came back and at one point anything could have happened. When MUTTI defeated STOYANOV in the penultimate singles, we could finally breathe a sigh of relief. MONTEIRO was undoubtedly the man of the match with his hat-trick, especially his win over URSU, who impressed me with his game intelligence. PUCAR also played an important role, and I'm sure if he had been needed for the final singles, he would have delivered his best table tennis. We are extremely satisfied with this fourth Super Cup victory. Table 1 Table 2

During the ceremony honoring the best athletes of the city of Zagreb in 2024, three individuals from the table tennis world received awards, including two lifetime achievement awards. The recipients were Dr. Martin Tino ASL, chairman of STK Dr. ASL, and Aleksa KOCIJAN, member of the Board of Trustees of the Croatian Table Tennis Association (HSTS), who was nominated for this award in the field of sports recreation. Mirela ikoronja IVANIN, coach of Paralympic gold medalist Anela MUINI VINCETI and member of the HSTS Board of Directors, was named the most successful coach. Dr. ASL has been involved in competitive sports (table tennis, tennis, basketball and handball) for 56 years. Over the years he has been an athlete and for the past 16 years he has been chairman of the Dr. ASL Table Tennis Club. In addition, he has played a key role as Vice-President of the Croatian Table Tennis Association, Vice-President of the Zagreb Table Tennis Association and member of the Board of Directors of the Womens European Champions League. Under his leadership, the club has achieved extraordinary success: the highlight of his career came with the club's victory in the Womens Champions League in 2018 and their runner-up finish in 2019. In June 2024, the women's team won the Europe Trophy, making their sixth other title. No other club in history has won such a diverse range of competitions.